Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl Review (3DS)
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium is a 3DS remake of the first title, originally on DS, making it a great starting point for those interested in the series. This was my first time with an Etrian Odyssey title, and it’s clear that a lot of effort has gone into the game, with many noticeable differences taking center stage.
As with many dungeon-crawlers, The Millennium Girl isn’t one to boast a rich, deeply engrossing story, although it’s enough to keep you interested and the characters prove to be likeable, if not fairly generic. You follow the journey of a Highlander, a warrior who takes on tasks and explores labyrinths whilst creating maps of those. During one fateful adventure, he came across an amnesiac girl who had been in a strange suit, and he journeys with her to regain her memory.
Fortunately, the gameplay comes out strong and in-depth, with the map drawing feature being an unexpectedly relaxing way to break up the battles. Something I quickly thought would become a nuisance, quickly became one of the games most enjoyable features, despite it not really adding much to any feature of the game and will be a distraction to those who just want to continue the story.
The combat is simple, and you can have up to 5 people in your team, each with different roles; meaning you can have a dedicated medic, or someone who’s completely offensive, and more. You’ll take turns attacking the enemies, who have been beautifully rendered into 3D whereas they were 2D in the original, until either party wins. It’s straightforward, but ignoring character roles can lead you to failure.
Navigating is also a simple affair, and you’ll be walking around – or running – in first person whilst you search every nook and cranny. The bottom screen will show the map, and you’ll need to use your stylus to draw it in. Don’t worry, your art skills won’t be put into question, as all you have to do is outline the squares that show up everytime you take a step.
Something I hugely enjoyed when navigating was keeping an eye out for vicious enemies called FOEs, who are powerfully strong and follow a set path, so you’ll need to choose your steps carefully to avoid confrontation. Their strength is indicated by 3 different colours, with red being the ‘please have mercy I wanna live’ colour that you want to avoid early game.
It might not bring much new to the dungeon-crawling table, but it’s solid, efficient and a joy to play. When not in dungeons, you can spend time at the local pub, the inn, or shopping for equipment. Although the socialising may not be very fleshed out, it does add overall depth to the characters. Just make sure you’re paying attention to the text, as multiple choice options come up without notice, and I’ve slected one unintentionally a couple of times due to it.
Graphically it’s wonderful to look at, with 2D character portraits being crisp and detailed, and 3D enemy models are a joy to watch, proving to be quite entertaining when hit. The dungeons themselves are quite bland, and whilst they may offer variety from one another, they don’t offer much variety inside. Grassy areas will have similar trees and bushes, and laboratory-type places will have endless white corridors; they do look nice, but it doesn’t stop them being quite empty.
Animated cutscenes are gorgeous and I wish there were more of them, as they’re an absolute delight to watch. It’s nice to see cutscenes dedicated to relaxing moments, such as the first time they enter a labyrinth as a team, and of course more intense scenes sometimes follow.
Onto audio, the soundtrack is great, if not unmemorable. Whilst I certainly did enjoy it and it never grated, I never found myself humming along or the like. It’s mainly orchestral, but makes use of riffing guitars during battles. The soundtrack is consistent with the tone of the game, with relaxing music playing as you journey through some of the more peaceful labyrinths.
Although it is quite sparse, voice acting is solid and a joy to listen to, and should please even those who dislike English dub. I found it to be rather quiet during cutscenes though, so make sure you have earphones or are playing in a quiet area.
Due to the nature of the game, the story is lengthy and completionists will have their patience challenged when filling in every possible route. There’s also a Classic Mode for once you’ve finished the story, which allows you to create your own characters and will be familiar to fans, but I recommend playing Story Mode first.
If you’re looking for a dungeon-crawling game, then Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl should satisfy your needs, and it’s easy to recommend with its solid gameplay and gorgeous graphics. There’s plenty to do in-game so you should be kept busy for a while, and it gives you the chance to experience the first game in a now long-running series.
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